Method of heat-treating



J 6, 1950 R. E. SCHIEBER 2,510,718

METHOD OF HEAT-TREATING Filed Sept. 10, 1947 INVENTOR.

I a -E. E. Wale/Z 5503mm bigzfl Mia-M.

HTT F/YEXi awayaiids'eparate from the confin" "i'ng heavy-see Patented June 6, 1950 harm E. 's-ehieber';-iit ai Mien. :Applicatidn September 14L 4 ;.S i 41-=i 3165i This invehtion riatesro aii'i'inbroyed-mthod ef heat treating a .metalarth'zle and mare" tafticularly to a method of heat treating a metal article of the type having a relatively thix'is''c- .tioned member confined against 'efipaiisi'oii or =contracticn by 'a relatively heavy-seaweed ineffia e -a t c e heavin te tively thin-sectioned member confined against expansion or dntract'ion by a "relatively vheavy.-

fsectioned member is eheat -treat edin theiordiiiafy :gnan zier as flcri'n'stance, heated and qiieficliedlto harden it, {the thin sectioned member heats more rapidly than the heavy-sectionedinember and therefore expands ahead of the heavy-sectinned member causing bueklfng ol the thin-" s'ectioned member. Likwis'e, when ainetal article of the aforementioned time is'iquerichdythe sectioned member will be eofold' more rapidly fic e. p p 7 a The principal obiec'ts or this iiiventio'n Ilto .coritr'actidn by a relativelyjheavy-sctionedfii nilbfer' so that both the i thifisecticnd member alfil the lieeiirtf-set zticined member will have the same rate "of expansion, that is, they will expandafid .ccntraqt substantially the same amount, at substantially the same time, so as to prevent any deforming or the 'thin sectioned member or separatifig'fif the isame from the ghavy-sectic ed .aheiiiber; t6 pidvi'deafi ii'lifp'feved method dfheat ;treating a metal articleof theaforfiiieiitiond type in which the relatively thine-sectioned, memher is covered with particulated metal, during the .heat treating operation, so that when it is heated and cooled'it will expand and contract at the same time:andrateasthe-confining heavysectioned member; to provide an improved heat treating method of the afereinenticned type which may be used for any heat treating opera;- tion such as" anheaiih hardening, drawing, quenching or the like; to provide an improved heat treating method of the aforementioned-type which isinexpensive, simple, and especiallyefiieieflt improducing the aferementioned desired These and "other objects of-this" invention will become apparent irom-thjeiollowinga detailedtdescription (taken in :c'onjunctic-n with --theraccom panying drawing in which:

heat treating meth V trated in conjunction with a gfiuidjcoupling mem- 2 its a top Isiah view Of'a fluid coiu tiine "member having a blade assembly of alrelatiyely thin section confined within an outerflfinnula'r housing ,of a relatively heav section, the same being; v typical of the class of Objects to which the .pr'eseritlriirentich is particularly adapted;

Eig..2 is an H ar'ged sectional view-cf thest'ructitre illustrated in'Fig. 1 -'if ken'alol i the line Z- .2I thereof; and p v a r :Fig. 3' is a .secticiialyiew similar to Rig. 2 11- .lustrjati 'g the blade. assamplyv covered with a par- "ffring' new to the ,tir'awing, it will be seen purposeg or illustration, {the 'imp'r'oye'd d -dfthijsjinvention is mus- Jfii'r ,g rauy. indicated at 5, v whichcomprises a relatively heavy-sectionedhousing 1 and a relatively thin-sectioned blade assembly 9'. The .hQusing i i cludesga ahnular housing iportidh 1.0,era relatively he'avys'ection, having an annu- "ljanjg 'rier'ally tlesectioned bottom wall ll secures ttfiefit" vAi(3611171? a1 illiwardly projecting bOS'S' 1 5, i'sdisp ed in thecentr'al aperture of the' wall .Ll aha {rigidly se'c'l'lffd t0 the inner iacethereof, rbylbrazi' orweldihe. These member v stitiifie' the ,lr'latiVljl heavifrsdtidhd g efjthe 'oif'ling; mtert, C fifih d ans 'is'cure i h n e Usecti hj i wan all .is the. blade assembly ,9, which cdmpfi'ses a plurality: or ra ial-1y m tigating and, cirtan rergiiti'ally 515916611 blades 2|. Tl'i blades Z-I are p -razed, Wld'dfir Otherwise fiXd t0 the .lidusiiig .1 "the run rl lfl e of c'dntact between oii'ipfises' all edges of the blades esicept the uppereqgs thereof. Afi annular generally QU-Se'cticified -;reififercing 'IeihentHZS- of a relatiii- M Y thi-fi 1 stieii, comprised, Of. a, plurality Of i'la: itiye'ly' short pieces each interposed between ah sadjacent pairof blades ,2 I; is-brazed or otherwise suitably secured to the blades 2| so a as to space, reinforce and {interconnect the same. ring ,29

V is -secured Earth s upper inner surface of the U- seeti onedwarll @i l t 5 positiyelyhel d the blade ase bl --T -1?I. Th blas s em 9 i that it is desired to harden the same.

covering the blade assembly.

a and the housing, as well as the reinforcing U- shaped element 25. If the heat treating operation is one preliminary to a quenching operation to harden the assembly, then upon quenching of the heated member 5, the thin-sectioned blade assembly will contract sooner and more rapidly than the heavy-sectioned housing 7, and will thus tend and often does separate. from the housing. This necessitates silver soldering, or otherwise resecuring the broken joints, and provides a generally unsatisfactory and costly coupling member.

In order to overcome this difficulty the improved heat treatin method of this invention has been devised. With the method of this invention, the housing 1 is filled with particulated metal 3i, as can be seen in Fig. 3. The particulated metal 3i may be either in powdered form or metal shavings, and is preferably a metal having approximately the same coeiiicient of conductivity as the metal of the housing l and blade assembly 9. In practice, it has been found that a metal such as cast iron may be used, so as to make. the operation as inexpensive as possible. The housing 7 is preferably filled with the particulated metal 3! so as to completely embed blade assembly 9 therein and cover it with a layer of substantial thickness. In the particularcase shown and assuming the coupling member to be about eight inches in diameter, it has been found that a covering layerof from /8" to A" is sufiicient. However, it will be appreciated that the entire housing 7 may be filled withv metal without affecting the operation.

is then subjected to the desired heat treating operation in a conventional manner.

4 at the same rate, so that no buckling, separating, or other injury will occur. After the member 5 has been quenched, and if it is desired, for example, to draw the hardness of the same, the particulated metal 3i which has been covered by the quenching liquid is removed from the housing and clean particulated metal is placed therein so as to again cover the blade assembly. The entire clutch member 5 can then be placed in a furnace and heated for an appropriate length of time at approximately 900 to By way of example, in order to illustrate a heat treating process of the type intended to harden the member 5, it will be assumed that the housing i and blade assembly 9 are made of annealed S. A. E. 4130 or S. A. E. 4140 steel, and

5 is placed in a furnace, after being filled with the particulated metal 3 l, and then heated to, for example, 1575 and held there for one half hour with the particulated metal covering the blade assembly 9 as described. The effect of the particulated metal is to blanket the blade assembly, and thereby provide, in effect, an integral memher 5, all of the parts of which will expand and contract a like amount and. simultaneously. That is, the tendency of the thin sections of the blade assembly to heat up and expand faster than the housing '5 will be retarded or compensated for by the particulated metal, which covers the same, so that during the heating, the blade assembly 9 and the housin 1 will be heated atapproximately the same rate, so that the expansion of both blade assembly and the housing will take place at the same rate and at the same time. Therefore no separating of the blade blade assembly joints will occur.

If, after the heating operation, the member 5 is to be quenched, for example in oil, to harden it, in accordance with the present invention this is done while the particulated metal 3! is still Here again the particulated metal will cause the thin-sectioned blade assembly and the heavy-sectioned housing 1 to cool at substantially the same rate so that the contraction of both the blade assembly and the housing will take place simultaneously and .The member 1 assembly from the housing, or breakage of the .simultaneously and 1000 F., for the particular metal specified by -way of example, so as to draw the same, and the particulated metal will again form the same function as described above. After this drawing operation, and the ensuing cooling operation is completed, the particulated metal is removed.

The heat treating operation has thus been completed .without deforming, cracking, separating, or otherwise injuring either the blade relatively efficient, and which will produce finished. heat treated metal articles of the type described in a much more satisfactory and efiicient manner than heretofore known in the art.

I claim:

V 1. In the heat treatment of a metal article including a relatively thin-sectioned member confined against. expansion or contraction by a relatively heavy-sectioned member, the steps of covering the thin-sectioned member with metal particles of such a size and type that the members will expand and contract substantially simultaneously. and substantially the same amount, heatingthe metal article to a predetermined temperature while so covered, cooling the article while so covered, and then removing the particulated metal. from said article.

2. In the heat treatment of a metal article including a relatively thin-sectioned member confined. against expansion or contraction by a relatively heavy-sectioned member, the steps of covering the thin-sectioned member with metal particles of such a size and type that the members will expand and contract substantially substantially the same amount, heating the metal article to a predetermined temperature withthe particulated metal still covering the thin-sectioned member, quench ingthe metal article with the particulated metal still covering the thin-sectioned member, and

jthenremovingthe particulated metal from said The following references are of record in the file of this patentt- UNITED STATES PATEN S Number Name H Date 2,049,370 Fisher May 12, 1936 1 2,240,494 Denneen et a1. May 6, 1941 2,303,467 Inskeep Dec. 1, .l9 l2 OTHER REFERENCES S teel Treating Practice,- by Sherry,'page 1'79. Published by McGraw-Ilill Book Co, 18, Y. 1929. 

1. IN THE HEAT TREATMENT OF A METAL ARTICLE INCLUDING A RELATIVELY THIN-SECTIONED MEMBER CONFINED AGAINST EXPANSION OR CONTRACTION BY A RELATIVELY HEAVY-SECTIONED MEMBER, THE STEPS OF COVERING THE THIN-SECTION MEMBER WITH METAL PARTICLES OF SUCH A SIZE AND TYPE THAT THE MEMBERS WILL EXPAND AND CONTRACT SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AMOUNT, HEATING THE METAL ARTICLE TO A PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE WHILE SO COVERED, COOLING THE ARTICLE WHILE SO COVERED, AND THEN REMOVING THE PARTICULATED METAL FROM SAID ARTICLE. 